Some of the heroes and villains who visited us this past year are
perennials while others made the scene for the first time. Some will
probably leave the stage sometime next year or the year after but
they will have made an impact--positive and negative, large or small
on issues of concern to most Armenians. Here it is: our--admittedly
subjective--choices of 12 villains and 12 heroes who made a difference
on the Armenian nation in 2014. The list is not in descending or
ascending order. We invite you to add your choices to the list. Please
send your candidates to Keghart.com below this article.--Editor

Picks of Keghart.com

VILLAINS

12. PRINCE ANDREW OF BRITAIN, KG, GCVVO, ADC (P), Duke of York, Earl
of Inverness, Baron Killyeagh, Knight Companion of the Most Noble
Order of the Garter, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian
Order, de jure Prince of Greece(although Greece in not a kingdom),
and Rear Admiral. The second son of the queen and the former husband
of the notorious Sarah Ferguson, continued to play footsie with the
brutal Aliev regime in Azerbaijan so as to feather his already fat
nest with easy--but dirty--petrodollars. The queen's third issue has
met Baby Aliev no less than 15 times in the past few years. A friendly
fellow, the prince was also chummy with Saif al-Islam, son of Moammar
Gaddafi, was close friend of convicted gun smuggler Tarek Kaikuni,
and the crooked son-in-law of Kazakhstan's dictator.

11. ARMENIAN OLIGARCHS The greedy, violent, and criminal parasites
who are strangling Armenia's economy as they lower the standard of
living in the republic through their network of monopolies, artificial
pricing and influence on Serge Sarkissian's government. Of course,
many citizens of Armenia believe Sarkissian himself is the head honcho
of one of the bigger oligarchic ziggurats while Robert Kocharian is
the Corleone of the second-largest.

10. ISIL/ISIS/IS/DA'ESH For their brutalism, fanaticism, obscurantism
and for persecuting non-Sunni Muslims and Christian minorities in
Iraq and in Syria.

9. ABE FOXMAN, PRESIDENT OF ADL The head of the Anti-Defamation
League in the United States who was, for years, the ringleader of the
Armenian Genocide-denying cabal. This apologist of Turkey believes
white-washing criminal Turkey is more important than acknowledging
Turkey's holocaust of Armenians. Foxman's agenda is no secret: he
would sleep with the devil if he thinks it would benefit Israel.

Luckily for Armenians, this reprehensible blowhard retires, at long
last, in next June.

8. THE RENT-A-SCHOLAR SET These are mostly American and some British
"scholars" who are jobbers deft at inventing purpose-written "historic"
tracts about Armenian/Turkish relations. The usual suspects Justin
McCarthy, The Rent-a-Scholar Set. Guenter Lewy, Bernard Lewis, et
al were joined this year with two brand-new hired guns: Christopher
Gunn and Tal Buenos. The latter is the hirsute gofer of Hakan Yavuz
(University of Utah) while the former teaches in a small Southern town
at the third-rate Coastal Carolinas University. These two juveniles
have joined the veteran liars in the custom-made scholarship run as
unacknowledged propagandists for Ankara. They should be extra busy
this year churning further banalities as Armenians commemorate the
slaying of 1.5-million Armenians.

7. CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II For continuing his execrable ways in Armenia
and in the Diaspora. The recent ambition of the oligarch- catholicos
is to forcibly turn the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem into an
Echmiadzin diocese so as to better control the Diaspora and pocket
the assets of Armenian Diaspora churches. In his spare time, KII
continues to throw his weight around, arbitrarily firing clergymen
and checking the bottom line of a Yerevan bus company he partly owns
with other birds of the flock.

6. TURKISH-AMERICAN/CANADIAN ORGANIZATIONS Funded by Ankara or
fronting the Gulen movement, these associations, Anatolian "heritage"
organizations, friendship and business groups have one goal in mind:
to diffuse Armenian condemnation of Turkey and perhaps polish the
traditional negative image of Turks in North America.

5. PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIEV, aka Aliev Jr., aka Baby Aliev, aka Baku
Al Capone numbskull who--to divert the attention of Azeris from
their miserable lives--orders border provocations with Armenian and
Nagorno-Karabakh almost on a daily and spends millions of dollars
to persuade the world that the battle of Khojalu was genocide by
Armenians. So far, nobody--except Turkey--takes lumbering Baby Aliev
seriously.

4. PRESIDENT RECEP ERDOGAN, PRIME MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU, aka Dynamic
Duo, aka Batman and Robin, aka Tom and Jerry. Where does one begin
listing the follies of the Neo Caliph-Sultan-Qaid-Padishah Ottomaniac
and his eager-beaver understudy Davutoglu? Despite Davutoglu's boast
about "no problems with neighbors" not one of Turkey's neighbors is
enamored with Turkey, except mercenary Georgia.

Even Ankara's long-time patron Washington is disenchanted with the
Erdogan's cantankerous, boastful, provocative rants. At the end of
the year the long-misunderstood Erdogan made a delightful present to
world cartoonists and satirists when he announced that Muslims--read
Turks--discovered America centuries before Columbus was born. You
see...

it was all a Crusader plot to take the credit for everything.

3. HAKAN YAVUS Reputedly to be connected to Turkish Military
Intelligence, Yavuz is ensconced, thanks to Ankara's piggy-bank, at
University of Utah's Middle East department. From his desert aerie,
Yavuz spends his time manufacturing fairy tales and organizing symposia
(funded by Ankara, naturally) to prove Turkey's innocence in the ethnic
"misunderstanding" a century ago when lots of Turks died.

Yavus has a perfervid imagination bordering that of Salvador Dali. He
will continue churning out fantasies with decreasing credibility
despite his largesse.

2. BRENDA SHAFFER Political-science professor at the University of
Haifa hid the fact that he had worked as an adviser "for strategic
affairs" for the Azeri state-owned company SOCAR when she paraded in
the U.S. as an objective scholar and wrote articles bolstering corrupt
Azerbaijan's image in the U.S. In one article she claimed Azerbaijan
was an "important security partner" of the U.S. To persuade Americans
to support the Aliev kleptocracy, she wrote that Nagorno-Karabakh
might become "Russia's next land grab." With her mask ripped, Shaffer
should return to Haifa and focus her energies on importing watermelons
from Azerbaijan.

1. SENATOR ANNE COOLS OF CANADA A former arsonist-terrorist and now
a Canadian senator, Ms. Anne Cools advocated earlier this year the
repeal of Canada's recognition of the Genocide. For details about
this wild woman of Canada's Senate, see our previous issue titled
"Senator Cools Blow Hot Air... As Usual".

HEROES

12. GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, QC For his extensive scholarship of genocides
and his recent book on the Genocide.

11. ROBERT FISK, foreign correspondent "The Independent" For not
forgetting--unlike most Western foreign correspondents--the plight
of the Middle Eastern Christians, especially in Syria and in Iraq.

10. YAER AURON and ISRAEL CHARNY, Israeli historians and authors. For
indefatigably continuing their many years' work to persuade Israeli
politicians, media, and citizens that refusing to recognize the
Genocide of Armenians--the prelude to the Jewish Holocaust--is an
unforgivable omission.

9. ZORYAN INSTITUTE The Diaspora Armenian think thank which goes
around quietly hammering further nails to the Turkish government's
coffin of denial.

8. PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER, MINISTER JASON KENNEY, THE CANADIAN
GOVERNMENT The prime minister of Canada, Mr. Kenney, Minister of
Employment and Social Development and Minister of Multiculturalism,
and the Canadian Government continued to resist unrelenting pressure
(blackmail, threats, positive business inducements) from Foreign
Affairs, from certain Canadian business lobbies, from Ankara and
Turkey-hired lobbyists to soft pedal, if not reverse, Canada's
recognition of the Genocide. The Canadian-Armenian community owes
big time to these politicians of courage, principle, and integrity.

7. MARK GIRAGOS The California lawyer and TV personality who has
familiarized million of American viewers with the justice of the
Armenian Cause.

6. PRE-PARLIAMENT in ARMENIA For telling it as it is in Armenia's
lawless governance and for spreading the word that unless the rule
of law is made supreme Armenia is going nowhere fast. Pre-Parliament
should also get extra points for advocating peaceful and democratic
change.

5. ARMENIANS OF ALEPPO/ARMENIA/ARTSAKH For their steadfastness,
sacrifice, and love of our nation in the face of untold physical and
economic suffering.

4. RIGHTEOUS TURKS and TURKISH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS For their courage
in challenging the false and harmful narrative of their country's
history vis-a-vis the Armenians.

3. SHEIKH SULTAN BIN MOHAMMED AL QASIMI, the ruler of Sharjah; For
donating $1.7-million to restore the Haghartsin Monastery in northern
Armenia. The 10th century architectural jewel was in a dilapidated
state when the sheikh rescued it.

2. ARGENTINA For being the largest investor country in Armenia,
for recognizing the Genocide, for giving the brush-off to Turkish
anti-Armenian lobbying, and for giving us Eduardo Eurnekian.

1. KIM KARDASHIAN The controversial--to put it mildly--media
personality did more for the Armenian Cause with a simple tweet than
countless Armenian projects have managed to do over the decades. Viva
social media.

"scholars" who are jobbers deft at inventing purpose-written "historic"tracts about Armenian/Turkish relations. The usual suspects JustinMcCarthy, The Rent-a-Scholar Set. Guenter Lewy, BernardLewis, etal were joined this year with two brand-new hired guns: ChristopherGunn and Tal Buenos. The latter is the hirsute gofer of Hakan Yavuz(University of Utah) while the former teaches in a small Southern townat the third-rate Coastal Carolinas University. These two juvenileshave joined the veteran liars in the custom-made scholarship run asunacknowledged propagandists for Ankara. They should be extra busythis year churning further banalities as Armenians commemorate theslaying of 1.5-million Armenians.

Prominent historian Bernard Lewis dies at 101

DAILY SABAH

ISTANBUL

Published18 hours ago

Prominent British-American historian Bernard Lewis, a leading scholar on Oriental and Middle Eastern studies, died Sunday at the age of 101, twelve days before his 102nd birthday.

No official statement was provided for the cause of death of Lewis, who has been living at an assisted-living care facility in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. His death was confirmed by his romantic partner and co-author, Buntzie Churchill, according to the Washington Post.

Born to a Jewish family in London in 1916, Lewis completed his studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London in 1936. Three years later, he earned his PhD on History of Islam. He served in different agencies of the British military, intelligence and foreign office during World War II, and returned to SOAS. He was appointed Near and Middle Eastern History department chair in 1949. Between 1974 and 1986, he taught at Princeton University in New Jersey, a period that included some of his most famous works. He continued teaching at the Cornell University until 1990.

Known as one of the leading names in Oriental studies in the Western hemisphere, Lewis is widely recognized as the first foreign academic to deeply study Ottoman archives.

His works on the Islamic world were important at a time when terrorism and extremism were at the rise in the Middle East, and cited as the first academic to use the term "clash of civilizations," which was later made famous by his Harvard colleague Samuel Huntington in 1993.

However, Lewis also faced criticism for ignoring colonialism or external effects as the source of problems and conflicts in the region. At a time when the U.S. and other partners invaded Afghanistan and Iraq in early 2000's, he was one of the top-sought names for policymakers, including neo-conservatives of the U.S., and media.

During his career, he wrote more than 30 books and hundreds of articles. He was also competent in at least a dozen languages, the Post wrote. Speaking Sunday at an event in Istanbul, Professor Ilber Ortaylı, considered the most popular and influential Turkish historian alive, said that Lewis was very fluent in a number of languages, including Turkish, Persian, Arabic and classical Latin.

Lewis is also known in Turkey for his stance on the Armenian issue. He argued that the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 and afterwards cannot be defined as genocide and should be linked to World War I and other atrocities surrounding it.